Market structure of the construction industry in Hong Kong

This study examines the market structure of four different sectors within the construction industry in Hong Kong. Market concentrations, expressed in terms of Herfindahl-Hershamann indices (HHIs) and number equivalents (HNEs), are calibrated for the top five contractors and compared with those of the local property industry. The study reveals the following ascending order of market concentrations: private building, public building, property development, and civil engineering. Our explanation is that technological and capital requirements have imposed a strong barrier to entry into the civil engineering sector, resulting in a concentrated market. Conversely, the lack of technological demand and supply in the private building sector has led to easy market entry and exit. Building contractors thus compete intensely on cost reduction rather than technology improvement, leading to poor construction safety and product quality. The paper concludes that the Government, being a major client of construction works and regulator of the industry, can assume a more active role in promoting the overall competitiveness of indigenous local contractors in Hong Kong.     

A study of the factors affecting construction durations in Hong Kong

This is the second phase of an investigation into the significant factors influencing construction duration of projects in Hong Kong. The results of the first phase led to the conclusion that larger samples were justified to investigate further the discerned relationships. Expanded samples were obtained in this second phase by adding some reported data from Hong Kong projects to the original surveyed sample. The second phase of this study also further investigates the relationships between different project characteristic variables such as the construction duration, construction cost, total gross floor area and the number of storeys in the case of buildings. Moreover, a case study on plant utilization level and site labour productivity was carried out on a building site to explore the ‘micro-factors’ that affect construction durations. The findings are of importance to all construction industry participants as the derived models help to estimate the construction duration of a project on the basis of significant macro project parameters. Additionally, the results of the case study indicate the contribution of significantly variable site productivity levels to overall construction duration and suggest an agenda for future investigations. A third phase of this study is planned incorporating more detailed data collection and analysis of significant factors, as well as international comparisons where possible.     

Factors affecting clients' project dispute resolution satisfaction in Hong Kong

The use of project dispute resolution satisfaction (DRS) as a project success measurement responds to the increasing concern over the spread of the dispute epidemic within the construction industry in Hong Kong. The DRS of a project is considered as favourable where disputes are resolved within the site level. With the use of 48 project data sets and the technique of multivariate discriminant analysis, a discriminant model function was derived to classify projects into favourable DRS and adverse DRS. The multivariate discriminant analysis model function identified eight discriminating variables, among which the degree of design changes offered the highest separation power. The reliability of the discrminating variables was reinforced by a separate relative importance index study. Through the use of principal component factor analysis, these variables were grouped into three factors generically described as substantive influence, facilitation and indirect influence.     

Critical factors for environmental performance assessment (EPA) in the Hong Kong construction industry

With the rise in the public concern on environmental protection, more construction firms start to apply environmental management for their construction activities. As a result, environmental management systems (EMS) have been implemented in construction. However, to improve the construction environment in Hong Kong, environmental performance assessment (EPA) has been designed for reviewing, monitoring, checking and evaluating environmental performance. A list of evaluation factors for EPA are identified and grouped into seven major factors: management and training; air and noise; auditing; waste and water; cost saving on resources; energy; and regulation. The results from a survey highlight that the most important evaluation factor is management and training and the least significant result is regulation. A voluntary approach has been promoted instead of the traditional mandatory system. Furthermore, three case studies are used to test the reliability with seven groups of evaluation factors in measuring the environmental performance for construction. The results from the case study analysis proved the effectiveness of the developed environmental performance assessment. Therefore, the developed environmental performance assessment can benefit the construction industry and help to achieve continuous improvement on environmental performance.     

Construction loans and industry development: the case of Hong Kong

Building contractors are generally small private firms. Bank loans are their major, if not only, source of external finance. However, building and construction loans represent a mere minuscule portion of all bank loans in Hong Kong, suggesting that contractors may have been neglected by banks. With the case of Hong Kong, this study examines the lack of supply and demand of construction finance, and the implications for industry competition and innovation. Contractors’ perceptions were solicited through a questionnaire survey. Key issues identified were further explored in subsequent interviews. The results were then triangulated with secondary data. It is found that although contractors do not usually have enough assets to pledge as collateral, they generally do not need to borrow that much. The provision of interim payments has enabled them to work with small capital outlay. However, the interim payment mechanism has induced a low barrier to entry, which has helped perpetuate the vicious circle of labour intensiveness of building construction, exploitation of labour‐only subcontracting, proliferation of small subcontractors and intense rivalry between firms. The findings conclude that contractors’ limited access to finance generally and bank loans in particular has posed a major barrier to innovation and hence industry development.     

ISO 9000 and beyond: from a Hong Kong construction perspective

Client driven ‘pushes’ for ISO 9000 certification in Hong Kong are observed to have overtaken any spontaneous ‘pull factors’ (motivators) towards quality improvements ‘for their own sake’. For example, the need for ISO 9000 certification as a prerequisite for even being considered for public sector construction works appears to have distracted some organizations from a more comprehensive organization-specific development of their quality management systems. Both positive (beneficial) and negative (detrimental) outcomes from ISO 9000 certification, as observed from relevant previous studies, are summarized herein. These provide a useful background against which to present perceptions derived from the current study in Hong Kong construction. The target groups were predominantly from consultants in the initial survey and all from contractors in the second and more comprehensive survey. The more significant positive and negative outcomes from ISO 9000 certification as derived from the two current surveys are identified. Recommendations are made for realigned approaches to ISO 9000 certification and for seamless integration with other quality management approaches such as TQM, as well as with other management subsystems, such as for productivity improvement and dispute minimization.     

Evaluations of existing waste recycling methods: A Hong Kong study

Environmental problems have been considered as a serious situation in Hong Kong construction. Waste management is pressing harder with the alarming signal warning the industry. Reuse, recycling and reducing the wastes are considered as the only methods to recover the wastes generated; however, the implementations still have much room for improvement. In order to ameliorate the existing situations, evaluations of the existing waste recycling methods are studied in this research. A telephone interviewing to the recyclers, site visits to the construction and demolition sites (including the Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate Phase 1) and the centralized recycling plant in Tuen Mun Area 38 are under investigation. Difficulties encountered for various recycling parties are investigated. Rather than the poor quality found from the recyclable materials, they found the high investment cost, lengthy demolition period and limited space caused the major barriers for them. Therefore, some recommendations are suggested: (i) proposing a higher landfill charging scheme; (ii) setting up a centralized centre for recycling the materials; (iii) examining the Hong Kong government should be supported in the provision of land for recycling plants; (iv) implementing innovative demolition methods; (v) allowing some locations in town for residents’ easy access to drop-off recyclable materials; (vi) allowing flexible demolition periods; (vii) setting up recycling plant in town or in the form of mobile installations; (viii) reusing the reusable components as donations to the charity organization; (ix) providing higher flexibility in receiving concrete waste in Tuen Mun Area 38 recycling plant; and (x) balancing the supply and demand of recycled materials through legislations or incentive schemes.     

An empirical study of the benefits of construction partnering in Hong Kong

Many construction companies have adopted partnering in their construction projects over the past 10–15 years due to favourable project outcomes achieved. Its use in construction projects has been increasing rapidly as its benefits become more apparent and pervasive. This paper reviews the partnering literature within the construction field and tries to portray the comprehensive picture of benefits for the partnering practice. Through partnering and the active involvement of all key project parties, the project is more likely to be completed within budget, on time, and with the least number of conflicts, claims and work defects. Also, this paper reports upon the findings of a questionnaire survey of partnering benefits in Hong Kong. Seventy‐eight project participants completed a questionnaire to indicate the relative importance of partnering benefits. The perceived benefits were measured and ranked from the perspectives of the client, contractor and consultant for cross‐comparison. The results revealed that ‘Improved relationship amongst project participants’, ‘Improved communication amongst project participants’ and ‘More responsive to the short‐term emergency, changing project or business needs’ were the most significant benefits derived from the use of partnering. More partnering arrangements should be actively introduced into the construction procurement process so that every party can enjoy the full benefits of partnering.     

香港的城市规划体系

由于土地资源匮乏 ,加上历史和政治原因 ,香港是一个与众不同的城市地区。从历史回顾、规划法规体系、行政体系和运作体系等方面评述了香港的城市规划体系。     

Management contracting in Hong Kong

Despite technological advancement in building techniques, new construction tools, equipment, and plant, and a greater variety and better quality of construction materials, the construction industry is generally regarded as one making slow progress in productivity. Here the potential of management contracting as a contracting method is considered in depth. Analysis includes assessment of its fundamental features, cost-benefit analysis and practical applications. The feasibility of its adoption in Hong Kong is evaluated.     

Design issues of using prefabrication in Hong Kong building construction

Prefabrication techniques have been adopted for the last two decades in public housing projects in Hong Kong, but the use of prefabrication in the private sector was encouraged only after the implementation of the Joint Practices Notes which promote its use. Although previous studies acknowledge the environmental benefits of using prefabrication, only a few studies have addressed sustainable design concepts (closed‐loop) in the adoption of precast construction. A questionnaire survey was administered to experienced Hong Kong construction professionals, and case studies of recently completed building projects were compiled to ascertain the use of prefabrication with reference to life cycle approach. The findings revealed that prefabrication, combined with modular design and standard components, saved time and construction/design costs, as buildings systems were used across projects. However, in some projects, specific site conditions restricted the use of similar prefabricated building systems across projects. Surprisingly only a few participants addressed life cycle design concepts such as design for deconstruction when adopting precast construction. Also, although it is common knowledge that flexible and demountable prefabricated building systems would result in efficient use of resources, their use is seldom practised in Hong Kong.     

Private Rental Housing in Hong Kong

This paper examines selected aspects of housing policy and its influence on private rental housing in Hong Kong. Its ambitions are modest, in part because so little research has been conducted on the sector, as a consequence of the small size of the sector as well as the concentration of socio-political, economic and policy analyses on the other major housing sectors, namely public renting and home ownership. It is argued that a fundamental function of private renting, to provide a functional substitute and counter-balance to distortions in the market for private home ownership, has been systematically undermined in Hong Kong. In spite of its historical importance in meeting Hong Kong people's housing needs, the sector's decline has been steep and it can now be fairly described as a marginalised tenure, despite incomplete structural adjustment post- Asian Financial Crisis. It is suggested that a fundamental reason for the decline of the private rental sector has been the impact of government policy, which undermined the private rental sector and thus an important element of the market mechanism in housing provision. The government's ideology of home ownership has also functioned to transfer lower middle-income families into the owner occupied sector. Although the Hong Kong government has not been as overtly hostile to this sector as governments have been elsewhere, it nevertheless also seems to envisage no real role for the private rental sector in a housing delivery system molded by policy preference for home ownership, rather than fostering viable economic competition by also facilitating an efficient private rental sector.     

港岛城市剖面

文章借用建筑学上的剖面概念,将其应用到城市尺度的形态分析和空间解读上。作者选取香港中环地区的中环至半山由自动扶梯系统覆盖的城市区域,作为诠释这一概念的具体案例。建筑剖面的传统意义被移植至城市剖面中,即在某一方向上剖切实体之后,通过观察剖切面上空间元素之间的关系,探寻彼此的内在结构,乃至这种城市结构空间背后的特殊历史过程和社会推力。香港岛的地理特征和100多年来城市化过程所形成的带状城市分布使得港岛具有剖面性格,而中环至半山的自动扶梯系统提供了一条重要的剖切线索。通过剖面方法解析,作者希望在城市形态学的分析方法上有新的突破。     

Investigating the intentional quality risks in public foundation projects: A Hong Kong study

Since foundation projects are one of the most complicated construction activities, many unforeseeable and invisible conditions and uncertainties will be investigated during the construction processes. The importance of examining risk management in foundation projects had pressing harder as short-piling experiences gained from the Hong Kong construction. Various types of quality risk should not be avoided throughout the construction development, including site condition, managerial and contractual factors. This paper identifies the typical factors affecting the three main categories defined in risk management in conducting foundation projects from various construction professionals. Intentional quality risk found to be difficult in handling the real responsibilities. This study will also present alternative solutions for controlling these quality risks and the effectiveness of these solutions has been tested. The findings from the study provide useful references to the construction industries.     

后生产主义视角下的香港乡村复兴研究

20世纪50年代后,随着香港城市化不断推进,新界乡村居民大规模迁徙到市区,乡村人口锐减、经济衰退、物质景观逐渐衰败。90年代后,香港开始通过不同方式推动乡村转型,取得良好成效,可为内地乡村复兴提供有益参考。从近现代香港乡村演化路径切入,以转型发展中的荔枝窝、盐田仔、大澳村以及南丫岛为例,基于“后生产主义”理论视角探讨乡村复兴的不同驱动方式,包括由精英阶层“多方联合”推动,由本地居民自发保护,由政府或村民开展的“零碎型”保护,以及由中产阶级迁入而推动的“乡村绅士化”等4类乡村复兴方式。香港乡村经历了从“生产主义”向“后生产主义”发展的演化路径,乡村职能从农业生产逐渐转变为乡村消费,城市资本对乡村社会经济空间结构进行重构。香港乡村复兴主要由民间力量推动,政府参与度较低。乡村转型亟待综合性保护规划的制定, 并通过因村施策、多方合作等方式,实现传统文化保护、经济发展等多维度的复兴。     

香港郊野公园的发展与管理

香港郊野公园的日常管理由管理科和护理科两个机构来完成。管理科的主要职责是策划郊野公园各项建设计划、管理建设及维修郊野公园内的各项设施;护理科的主要职责是为游客提供信息及服务、推广自然护理保育的知识。     

Construction project risks: further considerations for constructors' pricing in Hong Kong

Construction project risks affect contractors' tender price. A host of factors influencing tender prices were identified and the importance of these factors evaluated by making use of the data collected in a postal questionnaire survey conducted to the ‘Buildings’ contractors in Hong Kong. Out of 60 factors identified, the availability of required cash, uncertainty in costs estimates, urgent need for work, past experience in similar projects and contract size are considered most important. The need for work and the amount of experience are similar to those factors affecting bidding decisions of top UK contractors. The findings suggest that in the upward adjustment of tender prices, the large‐size contractors are more concerned with the uncertainty in costs estimates while the medium‐ and small‐size contractors care more about no past experience. In the downward adjustment of prices, the large size of the contract is the main factor affecting the pricing of the large‐ and medium‐size contractors while the urgent need for work is the main drive for the small‐size ones. There are significant differences between the contractors' perceptions of the importance of the risk factors. This is consistent with differing attitudes towards bid mark‐up decisions of the large‐ and medium‐size contractors in Singapore.     

香港长远运输策略及其启示

香港运输体系的成功是建立于其长远运输策略的正确指导，本文在“香港专家上海城市交通咨询会议”研讨成果的基础上．详细介绍香港长远运输策略、包括更妥善地整合运输与城市规划、更充分地使用铁路、建立更完善的公共交通服务和设施、更广泛地运用新科技和更环保的运输措施。